“Why would he need physical access?” my father asked, brow furrowing.

“He knows where we keep the proprietary blueprints for the new municipal project,” Ethan said.

“And the master client list for the entire tri-state area.”

“He’s desperate for cash,” I muttered, remembering the tense phone calls I had overheard Martin making last week.

“He owes a lot of money to some very bad creditors,” Ethan agreed.

“If he gets his hands on those physical blueprints, he could sell them to Vanguard Builders by tonight.”

Vanguard was our fiercest local competitor, a company known for using stolen designs to underbid projects.

“I will revoke his physical access badge right now,” Sarah said, tapping her tablet with urgency.

“It takes about twenty minutes for the database to update across all of our facilities,” she added.

“He might already be there,” my father said, standing up and buttoning his suit jacket.

He walked over to the large window overlooking the rainy Columbus street below.

Gray clouds hung low over the city skyline, and raindrops splattered against the glass.

“We need to secure the archive room at the downtown office immediately,” my father said.